In 1985, the journal Nature made a stunning prediction: by 2000, women will begin to consistently beat men in long-distance running events that traditionally are won by men.

Well, women aren't quite there yet, but they're getting pretty close - and Outsidemagazine is making the case that women are getting closer than ever when it comes to beating their male counterparts in long-distance events.

The basis for the theory is that women's times in long-distance running events were improving at a rate much faster than men. However, much of this was due to an increase in women participating in long-distance events. In other words, because there was such limited data prior to 1985, the results became a bit skewed as more women entered the sport.

Regardless, women are making incredible strides in the world of endurance sports, and are now beating men more frequently than ever before.

For example, runner Rory Bosio finished in the top-ten in the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc, a 104-mile, 30,840 vertical-foot course. Bosio - in seventh place - became the first woman to finish in the top-ten in the history of the race.

Bosio is one of several female runners who can keep up with the boys.

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However, the female marathon record time - set by Paula Radcliffe in 2003 - is still 11 minutes slower than the record for men. As Outside points out, men started hitting Radcliffe's record-setting marathon time of two hours and 15 minutes as early as 1958.

Much of the blame for slower endurance times for women can be blamed on physiology

'Women naturally have a lower aerobic capacity, a result of lower blood
hemoglobin levels, lower oxygen extraction in the arm and leg muscles,
and a smaller stroke volume in the left ventricle of the heart,' the article explains.

Lightning: Rory Bosio became the first woman to place in the top-ten in the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc, a 104-mile ultra-marathon

Another issue, Outside explains, is participation.

According to the magazine, like many sports, women only make up about 27-percent of the field in most long-distance endurance races.

The magazine attributes several factors to the phenomenon of female athletes scoring better times in endurance events. One of those factors was studied by a group of researchers at the University of England.

'Long-distance running is one of the only sports where men and women are
competing on an the same playing field, and like the famous avatar
experiment—in which scientists at the Northumbrian University of England
tricked cyclists into biking faster than they thought they were capable
of, by having them race against avatars programmed to ride faster than
they ever had—women might just be getting faster because their
competition is as well,' the magazine explains.

Oxford University conducted a study of its own that predicts women could eventually start beating men more consistently. But it's going to take a lot longer than 15 years.

Record-setter: Paula Radcliffe set the world record for fastest woman to complete a marathon at two hours and 15 minutes

'After analyzing data from Olympic winning times in the men’s and women’s
races from the beginning of the 20th century, the group noticed a
steady decrease in the margin of difference between men’s and women’s
times in the 100 meter dash,' the magazine explains. 'This lead them to conclude that, if female
athletes continue to close the gap on their male counterparts at the
same rate, by 2156 the fastest runner on the planet could very well be a
woman.'

In yet another study on the matter, researchers have found that simply lacking testosterone could be beneficial to women in terms of endurance running.

According to recent research, the lack of testosterone prevents woman from going all-out at the beginning of a race, which allows them to better pace themselves throughout the entirety of the race.

Outside concludes its lengthy piece with a prediction: ' if endurance running continues to grow at the pace it has, and the
women's field gains a larger competitive depth, these women [who beat men] might not be
the exception for long.'